Injuries are piling up out of control for the Boston Bruins recently. It started two weeks ago when defenseman Charlie McAvoy took a deflected puck to the face, and he recently had surgery. He will remain out of the lineup for the foreseeable future.
After the Bruins returned from their four-game road trip and before playing the New York Rangers and losing, 6-2, on Friday afternoon at the TD Garden, head coach Marco Sturm said that David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha would be out day-to-day with injuries. After the game, he didn't have any idea whether or not either player would play against the Detroit Red Wings.
On Saturday morning, before an optional pregame skate at the TD Garden, Sturm said that Pastrnak was going to be out again, which is less than ideal. As for Zacha, Sturm said that he would be a game-time decision. There was some good news as the Black and Gold took the ice for warmups ahead of their matchup with Detroit.
Pavel Zacha on the ice for pregame skate
Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub reported that Zacha came out for warmups, and according to Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic, he was skating with Marat Khusnutdinov and Casey Mittlestadt on what would be the second line.
This is good for the Bruins, are are in dire need of collecting points against the Red Wings on the front end of a home-and-home. Both teams are in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race, which is very tightly packed. Boston enters the game just outside of a wild-card spot and just a few points out of the Atlantic Division. Points are going to be at a premium over the next couple of weeks against what is going to be a difficult schedule for Sturm's team.